I have spent a lot of time around the Unlimited Hydroplane crowd. The driver wants to keep the boat just "skimming" over the water, barely making contact, but Mira Slovak, driving Bill Boeing's "Miss Wahoo" is experiencing his "moment of truth", as there is nothing under the boat or the prop or the rudder, except air. Water is "uncompressable", and if the air lifts the front end another degree or two. it's going to fly up and over and land with a bang, at which time the wooden boat desintigrates. Or, if the air pushes the nose down a degree or two, same result without the flip. If and when either of those things happen, the result it usually a dead driver. I knew Mira, and asked him specifically about the moment that somone snapped the camera while he was going flat out, and what he was feeling. He just turned white and I thought he was going to faint, just remembering how tight his ass-hole was at that instant. Luck was with him, and the boat settled in this position and he was able to stick his foot on the pedal again (he had to lift because with no load on the prop, the engine went way, way over the red line on the tach). Mira passed away a few years ago. He was a "man's man". For those that might not know about his history, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-mira-slovak-20140622-story.html
Things haven't changed much with women today getting injections to make their butts so big you could park a tray of drinks on them.
The Jalopy Journal
